Times Have Surely Changed ! 

The one line that got my attention in this blog was about the cheating, and I fully believe that in this area, times have truly changed from from the beliefs of the generation before the Baby Boomers (generally speaking of time period and ages here, not to be taken as literal 'proof').

I have heard many things in my fairly young life to believe that cheating in marriages has been around, and will continue to be around, since the dawn of time. There is proof of cheating throughout history and the way people had dealt with that has changed from generation to generation and century to century.

I know for a fact that in my own extended family growing up, once married, you never divorced, so if cheating happened, you either never knew about it, you never looked for evidence if you suspected, and you most certainly did NOT EVER divorce because of it. This applied to the women that cheated as well as the men.

My mom chose to not sit by and accept cheating, though she put up with a lot of cheating before she finally filed for divorce, so I still see differences between what she says she believes and what she actually did when faced with that problem.

I think a new generation of thinkers is showing a new way of thinking about relationships, and there are many that just find those ideas, wrong, wrong, wrong, just like we can think/feel that past generations were wrong in their views of relationships, I fully feel a new wave of acceptability in relationships is coming out and will become the new 'social norm'.

Good or bad is a difference of perspective and beliefs, but times have changed, and my goodness, times are a'changin' even as I type this out!

I just hope that I can enjoy the ride of the changes, both of the past, and of the future! I can't wait to see if my ideas of of living my life are soon to be seen as 'traditional' and those of my ancestors as 'non-traditional'!

I had the traditional somewhat too. My mom didn't work outside the home but she sure worked her butt off on the farm. My dad worked an outside job and then came home and worked on the farm. I worked too. We were a close unit since I was an only child but I always wanted different. My parents had the attitude that since my dad was the breadwinner, his opinion mattered more. How money was spent was more his decision because he was the one that made it. I didn't like that thought. I wanted my opinion to matter too. I wanted to be a partner to someone, not just be there to serve them when they got home. My parents still live that life. My mom exists for my dad. While it works for them, it doesn't work for me. I never wanted to be dependent on someone for my every need. I wanted to share my life, not let them run it. My stbx and I got into it early in our marriage because he didn't think "any wife of his" should work outside the home. His parents were the same as mine, pretty much. I am so glad I didn't go that route or I would have been a 38 year old on my own now with no job skills, no job, and no husband and I would have been screwed. I also would not have had my own identity. I have made more money yearly for 10 out of the 17 years of my marriage. I never cared. It didn't bother me in the least. I let him handle the money. I just wanted an equal say in our life. It is funny, at the time, my mom thought I should give in more and thought I should be happy staying at home. Now both my mom and my mother in law tell me that I am lucky. They both tell me that they have put up with more than they wanted to because they didn't work outside the home. They also tell me that they are screwed if something happened to their husbands. I think I made the right choice for me. I only hope I have given my daughter a good example.

I'm not sure if equality between the sexes is a good or bad thing.
It has definately changed the previous status quo.
I'm sure that cheating always took place but I wonder to what extent. I think it's possible that women are responsible for putting a damper on  the male pride, and his sole ability at heading the household.
His ego has been dealt a blow and this has caused him to look for appreciation outside of the home.

My mom always had the steady job while my dad played.  Well, he didn't play, but he played at having different businesses.  I wasn't raised in that traditional house.  My mom did most of the inside chores and that always bothered me.  I'm not sure why since it was just the way it was.

I was lucky to have been raised in the traditional family, dad works mom takes care of kids and house. I guess about the time I was 12, she went to work! Wow what a shock, no more cookies and milk waiting for us after school. Chores we had to do now, taking turns cooking and doing the dishes. Divorce was taboo! We had a lady that lived across the street, she was whispered about by all the ladies in our neighborhood, as that woman! The men liked her, she was always dressed to go out, high heels and short little dresses, she was a hairstylist, guess how many men started letting her cut their hair? LOL! Yes the dawn of a new age, men who always went to a barber before were now seen in the beauty shop, ha!
Anyway, yes times have changed, thank God in many ways, sadly in some...

My parents raised me to be independent.  It's ironic because they were older when I was born (42).  They were married in 1946 when my dad came home from WWII.  My mom was a stay at home mom and dad worked.  So my role models were the traditional roles.  My stbx's parents were the same way, except they doted on him and his sisters did all the work!

I'm not sure why they raised my sister and I to be independent.  Going to college wasn't even a choice,.....we had to go!  My sis is 16 years older than me and never married.  She has taken care of herself since she was 26 (that's when she finally insisted that she moved out of my parents house)

I'm very lucky to have had such progressive parents.  but I do think my independence led to part of my divorce.  I didn't really need him for much, just love.  He wanted to be the breadwinning king of the manor...I was too much of a free thinker.

I was raised in that type of environment as well. My mom always used dad against us if we were being too difficult for her to handle (which was often lol). My mom stayed home while my dad worked. My mom did the indoor chores my dad did the outdoor chores.
Nowadays it seems so impossible to live on one income sometimes. I'm hoping that I can someday I can stay home with the kids (when I have them that is.....). I want to give my kids the same family life I had. But, as you said, times have changed; roles are being reversed. It been happening as I've grown up that's for sure.